Prompt #119

And happy almost July Fourth!

Welcome to the new folks who have come my way via George Saunders’ substack, Story Club. Hope you enjoy this place! I post both new prompts and ones that I pull out of the archive. Take a look around. Not every prompt will speak to you, and that’s okay. You are welcome to post anything you want in the comments section (under 400 words), even if it’s not aligned with any week’s particular prompt.

Questions? Ask away!

Here’s a little something I wrote that a lot of people wouldn’t call a “story.” Of course, it all depends on what your definition of a story is. Here, we’ve got a narrator, a couple of other characters, a bit of tension, and a character-defining choice. So, to me, it actually IS a story. But you’re welcome to have a different opinion. Does it matter what we call it? The upshot is: this is what appeared on the page, and writing anything at all, in my book, is a win.

Anyway, give this a read (if you are so inclined!) and then I’ll get to the prompt:

Pam and Olga

Dentist appointment this morning and when I’m called back, it’s not my usual hygienist, Pam, it’s someone else. Olga. It seems Pam has retired. What a thing to have happened! I’ve seen Pam every six months for years now. We have our patterns. She knows me. We chat and we laugh and at the end of the cleaning she says, do you want to make another appointment for six months from now? And I always say yes, and then we both say goodbye, see you in six months. And now I will never see her again. Look, I know that’s how life goes, but still, it feels funny. I’d have liked to have said a real goodbye, or good luck, or whatever. I’d have liked to have given her a little hug and thanked her for all the teeth cleanings. Well, Olga seems quite nice. She’s younger. Less put together than Pam. Earthier, I’d say. I tell her about Pam. I say, so Pam and I used to play a little game that goes like this: I ask Pam how I’m doing with the flossing and she says, you’re doing a really good job! And then Pam asks if I’d like to try a water pik and I say no. And then Pam tells me that actually I could do a tiny bit better on my back teeth and I say I know. But then she says again that I’m doing a really great job—it’s just those back teeth. And I say, right. Then she’ll ask if I’ll get x-rays this time, and I say no, maybe next time. So, I say to Olga, maybe we could play that same game? And Olga says, okay, but then she completely forgets the game. I say, how am I doing with the flossing, and she says, not bad. I say, do my teeth look all right? And she says, they look okay. There is no upbeat nature to her voice. She’s matter of fact. I’m pretty sure she wants me to use a water pik, but she holds back. She says, hmmm. Those back teeth, you’re not getting back there enough. I nod my head as best I can. At the end of the appointment, Olga asks if I want another appointment for six months from now and I say yes. Later, at home, my gums hurt a bit, and they never hurt after I saw Pam. Maybe Pam didn’t do as good a job?

1. Write your own Pam/Olga story. Call it “Pam and Olga.”

2. In your story, Pam and Olga are not dental hygienists. They are something, anything else!

3. They are two elderly ladies in a nursing home. They are both card dealers in Vegas. They are both your mothers. They are neighbors who do not speak to one another. They are babies, switched at birth at the hospital. They are flies in the kitchen. They are nicknames for body parts.

4. Okay, you get the point. You’ve got Pam. You’ve got Olga. Now write them a story.

That’s the whole prompt.